King, the point isn't whether Korea was a "draw". I guess we occupied South Korea as much as we're occupying Iraq, after driving the NK's and Chicoms back across the border, and it's both free and democratic. Works for me. We've also helped to establish free and democratic states in the Balkans (not sure how "Western" they are, both Bosnia and Kosovo being majority Muslim). Looks to have worked in the first case, and hopefully the second will as well, without serious fighting. War can have many faces, and it isn't likely to be the same everywhere.

Mark, I'd check those "independent" (how far left are they?) sources against "official" sources, and as an intel guy, if I questioned either, I'd accept nothing more nor less than halfway between. Don't think you can get to a million, even if you add in the Gulf War. And "displaced" is a whole lot different than "dead". Iraq is a serious situation, but it's impossible to have an intelligent discussion if you accept everything the harshest critics of the war put out as absolute truth--just as much as if you accept everything the government says as absolute truth. The best idea is to question both and look for solid evidence.